Director, Business Development – MENA Region

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United Arab Emirates (UAE).

📋 Description

• Create, manage, and implement the enterprise business development strategy and annual operating plan for the MENA region.

• Develop and sustain a multi-year growth roadmap for MENA, addressing priority countries, target industries, strategic accounts, channel opportunities, and partnerships.

• Conduct market analysis and opportunity assessments at the country level across the Middle East and North Africa.

• Oversee the top-of-funnel performance and pipeline development in MENA, focusing on opportunity quality, stage progression, forecast visibility, and contribution to regional revenue targets.

• Lead, mentor, and nurture business development professionals working in the MENA region.

• Establish executive-level relationships with prospective customers, government-affiliated entities, industrial operators, industry partners, associations, and key stakeholders.

• Identify, assess, and cultivate regional channel, referral, implementation, and strategic alliance partners.

• Supply regional customer and market insights to guide product strategy, localization, go-to-market positioning, pricing, packaging, contracting, and service offerings.

• Represent the company in executive meetings, industry forums, conferences, and strategic customer interactions.

• Manage strategic industry affiliations, memberships, conferences, and events in MENA; evaluate their impact on pipeline, partnerships, and brand credibility.

• Direct the qualification and progression of complex enterprise opportunities in MENA, including discovery, solution positioning, demonstrations, executive presentations, proposals, tenders, and RFP responses.

• Collaborate with Sales, Marketing, Product, Consulting, Managed Services, and other functional leaders on regional pursuit strategies and resources.

• Establish and enhance business development methodologies, playbooks, qualification criteria, account planning standards, localization practices, and handoff processes for MENA.

• Ensure proper CRM governance, accurate regional pipeline data, activity tracking, and executive reporting.

• Formulate market-entry business cases for MENA, recommending country prioritization, partnership models, and investment proposals.

• Keep track of competitor activities, industry trends, investment priorities, regulatory changes, data requirements, and customer priorities that impact MENA growth.

• Work alongside Sales Operations, Finance, and Legal on territory planning, pipeline analytics, budgeting, commercial terms, contracting, and ROI assessments.

• Advocate for the responsible use of approved AI tools for prospect research, market analysis, outreach personalization, pipeline insights, and productivity enhancement.

⛳️ Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Finance, Engineering, or a related field; an MBA or other advanced degree is preferred.

• Over 10 years of progressive experience in business development, enterprise sales, corporate development, strategic partnerships, or a related growth function, with significant responsibilities in the MENA region.

• At least 5 years of leadership experience in building, managing, and developing business development or sales teams.

• Proven success in developing markets and generating qualified enterprise pipelines across the Middle East and North Africa, including managing complex B2B opportunities with extended sales cycles and multiple stakeholders.

• In-depth understanding of MENA business practices, customer expectations, procurement and tender processes, partner ecosystems, and country-specific market dynamics.

• A well-established network of senior customer, partner, industry, and government-linked relationships within priority MENA markets is preferred.

• Experience in creating and executing regional business development strategies, country plans, budgets, performance metrics, and executive-level reporting.

• Demonstrated ability to build relationships and influence senior executives, prospective customers, partners, and cross-functional leaders across diverse cultures and business environments.

• Strong commercial acumen with experience in evaluating country and market attractiveness, customer needs, competitive positioning, localization requirements, and return on investment.

• Advanced proficiency with CRM systems, pipeline analytics, forecasting, dashboards, and data-driven decision-making.

• Experience in leading complex proposals, tenders, RFP responses, demonstrations, negotiations, and executive presentations in MENA markets.

• Ability to clearly articulate technical products and services into tangible business value for both executive and operational audiences.

• Excellent spoken and written English communication skills, including polished executive presentation and facilitation capabilities; Arabic proficiency is highly preferred, and French proficiency is advantageous for North African markets.

• High cultural fluency and proven ability to navigate relationship-driven business environments, local decision-making structures, and cross-border stakeholder expectations.

• Strong strategic thinking, analytical, problem-solving, prioritization, and decision-making skills in ambiguous, deadline-driven situations.

• Proven ability to collaborate across Sales, Marketing, Product, Technology, Finance, Legal, and Services organizations.

• Advanced skills in Microsoft Office, particularly PowerPoint and Excel.

• Experience in enterprise SaaS, contractor management, industrial operations, energy, petrochemicals, maintenance, procurement, or related MENA markets is preferred.

• Knowledge of practical AI applications in business development, including research, account prioritization, content development, workflow automation, and pipeline analysis.

• Willingness and ability to travel frequently throughout the MENA region and internationally as business needs arise.

🏝️ Benefits

• Competitive salary and performance-based incentives.

• Opportunities for professional development and career growth.

• Comprehensive health and wellness benefits.

• Flexible working arrangements to support work-life balance.

• Engagement in a dynamic and collaborative work environment.